“The first thing is Russell is a tremendous competitor
but also highly intelligent,” Presti said. “He
understands that the approach that we have to take in
order to maximize ourselves is going to be one first,
making sure we’re sound fundamentally and we’re
continually growing through the season. That’s always
kind of been a staple of the organization.
“One of the reasons why we have a lot of optimism and
excitement frankly about this season upcoming is the fact
that [coach] Billy Donovan has demonstrated a tremendous
ability to be creative, adjust and evolve different
styles of play, and utilize a lot of our personnel.”
Donovan, who is entering his second season, struggled at
times last regular season, but he guided the Thunder to
the brink of the NBA Finals before Oklahoma City blew a
3-1 series lead to Golden State.
“It’s been tremendous to work with Billy. He is really
committed to and invested in [success] for the
organization,” Presti said. “We really saw his growth
during the season, but I thought the most impressive
thing he was able to do last year was take a longer view
and allow a commitment to the process of improvement to
really drive our results. This season coming in, he’s
going to have encountered a lot of the different first-
time challenges any coach would encounter. He did an
exceptional job last year dealing with a lot of
uncertainties.”
The Thunder will have a dramatically different look. Not
only did Durant sign with the Warriors, but Presti
shipped longtime forward Serge Ibaka to Orlando for
Oladipo. For nearly a decade, Durant, Ibaka and Westbrook
were synonymous with Thunder basketball. Now two of the
three are gone.
“Our ability to adapt and evolve is important and
certainly has been a big part of our organization,”
Presti said. “We’ve gone through several different
cycles as a team and have tried to evolve off of a
foundation of principles. The vision of the team and what
we want the Thunder to stand for is steadfast.
“The reason why we’re optimistic about the future is
because I think we have a clear identity of who we are.
We know there are going to be inherent challenges. Our
job is to figure out how to make progress and how to
continue the legacy of the organization, and how to
continue to create an environment where players and staff
can thrive and do their best work. That’s energizing for
everybody.”
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